A descendant of the legendary Gallo, Rugor Nass was born on Naboo in the Gungan city of Otoh Gunga. He quickly cut a figure above his contemporaries with his warrior's spirit and unwavering determination. A popular fable concerns his inborn leadership abilities even as early as a tadpole. He was the first to sprout legs in his collective pool, and also seemed to organize the other tadpoles and aided them in their development. While in school, he ventured out into the unknown depths and encountered a sando aqua monster, somehow he managed to survive.[1]

Early career

Gungan High Council

Nass at the head of his Council.

Nass took on many varied careers—from army sergeant, to engineer, to energy miner, and, eventually, the head of several small businesses. He became famous among his people by winning the Big Nasty Free-For-All, a grueling physical challenge in the annual Gungan Festival of Warriors, an unprecedented three years in a row.[5] He began rising through the echelons of the Gungan civil service, impressing the citizenry with his organizational skills.[4] By the time the elections for Top Boss came around, he had gained popularity with a supermajority of the population, and won the election in a landslide.[5]

Rather more conservative than the other Otolla leaders, Nass developed a reputation for stern, no-nonsense, yet fair and just leadership. Exceedingly proud of his city, Nass made unprecedented steps towards civic improvement, including the development of the Municipal Zoo and a new Rep Council Chamber.[4] The most notable of Nass' developments was the construction of a new public concourse he dubbed City Bigspace.[5]

One day, when traveling in a Bongo submarine with Jar Jar Binks and Commander Wollod, Nass was alerted by Otoh Gunga Traffic Control that a storm was heading through their path. Nass was unable to avoid the storm, which resulted in severe damage to the Bongo. Binks and Wollod aided Nass in the repairs, before setting out to save anyone else who might be affected by the storm. They raced to the Festival Arena in Lake Umberbool where the Boss made sure that a group of bubble engineers were properly sheltered, before rescuing Rep Teers and his niece, Fassa.[6]

Nass showed remarkable patience with the ever-bungling Jar Jar Binks, letting the hapless Gungan off with minor punishments for his misdeeds where most Bosses would have demanded Binks' head on a pike.[1] However, Nass did vehemently draw the line at Binks romancing Fassa, revoking a life debt she had sworn to Jar Jar on a technicality.[7] It was only after Jar Jar crashed Nass' personal heyblibber while trying to save it from a gas explosion (which Binks had also caused earlier that day), that Nass reached the end of his patience. The punishment chosen was banishment under threat of death if violated, rather than instant death, and for a while, Binks was gone and Boss Nass ruled Otoh Gunga in relative peace.[1]

Nass was well and truly aware of his own achievements, and saw fit to commission a series of tributes to himself: A series of 16 display bubbles over the City Bigspace, each of which would be a tribute to his greatest deeds. The Rep Council, however, barred his efforts, and soon enough he had more pressing matters to deal with.